The Great Hercules or 'Knollenman'

1589

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Mythology Heracles

Dominant colour

The Great Hercules or 'Knollenman' is a 1589 by Hendrik Goltzius, a Renaissance work, depicting Heracles, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Hendrik Goltzius
When & what style?: 1589 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

The painting shows a strong man with big muscles. He's standing in a classic pose. This work is interesting because it shows how the artist used his imagination to create the figure. The artist didn't study a real body, so the muscles look exaggerated. He used ideas from classical sculpture and Italian art. To learn more, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.

The story of this work

Overview

The exaggerated and unnatural musculature of this figure may suggest that the Netherlandish artist Hendrick Goltzius had never studied a real human body. Indeed, he pulled from a mixture of sources including classical sculpture, Italian art, and his imagination. Goltzius ushered in Mannerism in Northern Europe, a style that featured exaggerated forms and metaphorical and allegorical subject matter. Known for his skill with an engraving burin, he transformed the technique, creating engraved lines that taper and swell to emphasize volume and form to extreme effect.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Hendrik Goltzius

Hendrick Goltzius (German: , Dutch: ; né Goltz; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter.

See the richer artist page